Boeing X-45C UCAV
The Joint Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle program originated as a USAF Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) under DARPA in 1998. A navalized version, the X-46, was contracted for in 2000 but never built. The first X-45C made its first flight on 22 May 2002 and the second in Nov 2002. Restructured as the Joint Unmanned Combat Aircraft System (J-UCAS) under DARPA management in 2003. It dropped its first bomb on 18 Apr 2004, and the two aircraft flew in formation under one controller on 1 Aug 2004. Restructured as an Air Force program in Nov 2005. Restructured under Navy management in Feb 2006 as the N-UCAS Carrier Demonstration program (X-45N). Characteristics for N-UCAS will be determined at contract award (3QFY2007) and will not include any mission systems or sensors.
The cancellation of the US Air Force / Navy Joint Unmanned Combat Air
Systems (J-UCAS) programme prevented Boeing from rolling out the X-45C
demonstrator last week. The company’s contract to build three
X-45Cs has been cancelled and work on the aircraft has stopped pending a
competition for the US Navy’s carrier-based unmanned combat air vehicle
(UCAV) demonstration.Users: U.S. Air Force and Navy.
The X-45C was developed by the Boeing (former McDonnell Douglas) Phantom Works in St. Louis, Missouri. The X-45C unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) is a tailless, 27-foot-long, jet-powered aircraft with a 34-foot wingspan. The vehicle incorporates a thrust vectoring system for yaw control, thus eliminating the need for vertical stabilizers, reducing the drag and radar cross-section. The UCAV System Demonstration Program is a joint DARPA/USAF/Boeing effort to demonstrate the technical feasibility for a UCAV system to conduct various strike missions within the emerging global command and control architecture.
The demonstrations will provide the information necessary to enable decision-makers to determine whether it is technically and fiscally prudent to continue development of a production UCAV. Two X-45A aircraft completed 16 flights during Phase I testing which ended in February 2003. Initial plans for an X-45B version were apparently cancelled in mid-2003, with the program moving directly to a more capable X-45C due to a change in mission requirements.
Inventory: 2 X-45A Delivered/2 X-45C Planned (2006)
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